Christmas Around the World

Cape May, NJ

 

SHORECOOK and her husband went to Cape May, NJ for an evening out.  While there, she photographed these gorgeous houses!  These first two images are Bed and Breakfast places, followed by a picture of a horse and buggy.

Horse and buggy

Cape May, NJ is a resort town located on the southern end of a peninsula where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. It is known for it's world famous victorian structures, including this one of Washington Street Mall.

 

 These pictures captured by  SHORECOOK, have enabled us to tour a slice of her life in Cape May, NJ!

Thanks SHORECOOK!

Ashdown, Arkansas

Now, we will go visit Ashdown, Arkansas.  This is a town close to the Texas border.  Here is the courthouse!




Mimosa grew up in this town, her parents still live there.

The lovely courthouse was built in 1907.  She is all dressed up in her finest Christmas Glory!  Besides the fact that this Grand Old Dame has weathered fires, more than one tornado, the Great Depression, and the hideous decade of the 1970's when the battle cry was "Modernize, modernize, MODERNIZE!', she still stands just as strong, proud, and beautiful as she was when that last brick was laid back in 1907.

This is an extra special place to Mimosa because as she grew up, she  lived close by. Her best friend's Mom worked in the Sheriff's office. She and her bff could be seen almost daily in the summer, roaming the halls and (if they could get away with it) playing in the court room!  Their bicycles were a common site on the front walk.

Mimosa sent a link to a page about the Courthouse as well so we can see just how beautiful she is even without her Christmas "Bling".  1991 was the first Christmas for this incredible display.Mimosa still lived in Ashdown then and helped raise the money for all those lights!  The cost of the lights and their installation is a 100% citizen volunteer effort, so county funds are not needed.  There reallyy are still "Mayberry's" out there!

http://www.littlerivercountyar.info/LRC.htm

Mimosa, thank you for sharing Ashdown, Arkansas with us!

Christmas in Taunton, Massachusetts

Hi – I’m Jodi (that’s my AR user name as well) and this is from Taunton, MA.  This isn’t a great picture, I apologize, but it’s the best I could get.  I love the idea you have of gathering these pictures – thank you!

From wikipedia:

The green was laid out in 1830 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and contains approximately 20 buildings on 50 acres (20 ha).  Taunton Green has historically the gathering place for troops headed to war and since 1914 it has hosted the city's annual holiday light display which attracts visitors from throughout the area, giving Taunton the nickname of "The Christmas City".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taunton_Green#cite_note-

Jodi---Thank you for sharing Taunton, Massachusetts with us!

Celebrate Christmas in Prattville, Alabama

 Prattville, Alabama is located in roughly the center of Alabama, to the northwest side of the capitol city, Montgomery.  We are located in Autauga county, the county that was a county ((1818) before the state became a state! (1819).  Prattville is in the southeast corner of Autauga county.



Prattville has 3 exits off Interstate 65, so if you miss us once, you might still be able to visit us coming from a different viewpoint.  Running through town is Highway 31, aka the Birmingham Highway, which connected  Montgomery to Birmingham in the days before interstate travel.



On Main Street, between 4-5 miles off the interstate, you will come to downtown Prattville.  In this part of Prattville, you will find a collection of old buildings that line both sides of the street.  Prattville city planners have  tried to encourage visitors to come to the downtown area.  We now have brick paths to cross the strreet on, plants in hanging baskets, and stores to shop in.  Where Main Street rounds the curve, by the creek, there is a fountain.



We'll start the tour at the fountain, then work our way back to City Hall so you can see the Christmas tree.  Come see Prattville decorated for Christmas in 2010!

 This is the fountain decorated for the Christmas season.  Notice the brick building in the background.  Prattville's founder, Daniel Pratt, came from New England.  He built up the town along the river like you'd find in manufacturing towns of New England.  The factory building is no longer in use for gin mills (think cotton gin here!), but is a rich part of the town's history.  You will also see a wrought iron fence.  Autauga Creek runs between the fence and the factory.

Notice the sleigh in the background.  You will see this view when you look at the night time pictures.

 Now you can see the sleigh being pulled by reindeer.  The reindeer aren't very visible during the day.

Here you will see the reindeer and Santa's sleigh from a different view.

Now, we will travel to the other end of the block, where the Christmas tree can be seen. It is set up in front of City Hall, the building you see in the background.

At night, it has an entirely different appearance.

One of the poles with a light during the day!

Thanks for visiting Prattville, Alabama at Christmas time!

Picture that recipe!

I like to experiment with foods!  Many times, I choose recipes because there is no image of it on a site, or I have created the recipe and am getting a 1st picture.  I often change the ingredients to ones that my family enjoys and will eat.  For instance, I usually use whole wheat flour, not white.  I use soy or almond milk instead of cow's milk.

Here are the recipes I made during the 1st week of December 2010.  All of this week's recipes were found on Allrecipes, a great place to find recipes, join the "buzz", and post comments!  None of these recipes had images  until I posted photos!

Spiced Naan

This easy to make bread is filled with chopped onions, raisins and coconut that are cooked in a spicy blend of seasonings.  I used whole wheat flour to make the bread dough.  This made 4 servings.  Next time, I think I will make 8 smaller bread pockets!



http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spiced-Naan/Detail.aspx

 

 Spicy Potato Noodles (Bataka Sev)

The next day I made this potato/chickpea flour pasta seasoned with hot pepper, ginger and garlic.  It is supposed to be fried, but I don't like fried food.  I chose to cook this like gnocchi, by shaping the dough into 1/2" logs, and slicing off small bits.  Then, the pieces took a bath in boiling water until they started to float.  This recipe called for salt, but I wanted the intense flavor of the flavorings to remain.  I opted not to use any salt for this recipe. Mustard oil is called for, but I only had canola oil; next time I will try to find the hotter, spicier oil!  I really enjoyed these flavorful Spicy Potato Noodles!

 http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spicy-Potato-Noodles-Bataka-Sev/Detail.aspx

 

 Moroccan Potato Bean Soup

This is a hot, spicy, sinus clearing soup!  I used a sweet potato instead of a white potato, as you can see by the orange chunks in the photo!  White kidney beans are called for, but I had navy pea beans on hand, so I used those. Instead of using milk and cream, I used soy milk.

Once I accustomed my taste buds to the very peppery taste, I enjoyed this!


http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Moroccan-Potato-Bean-Soup/Detail.aspx






Ginger Shortbread Wedges

 I used whole wheat instead of white flour when creating this shortbread.  I also sprinkle 2 T chopped candied ginger on the top before baking.  I pricked cutting lines with a fork, supposedly for easier cutting into wedges after baking, but they had mostly filled in during the baking process!  Instead of separating this recipe into 8 portions, I made 12 wedges.  I love ginger, and I love shortbread, so this was a winning recipe!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ginger-Shortbread-Wedges/Detail.aspx

                    

Simply Sesames

These tasty little gems are a sesame seed, coconut, and pecan slice-and-bake shortbread.  They have a delightful flavor that I could not have imagined until I started nibbling them!

The original recipe called for almonds, but since pecans are much easier to get where I live, I opted to use them!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Simply-Sesames/Detail.aspx

 

My goal for the month of December is to average 1 new recipe a day!  In the 1st 5 days of December, I met that goal!